KATHMANDU: Devraj Ghimire, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, called today's meeting to address the Maoist Center's ongoing obstruction of Parliament, but it ended without a resolution. Breaking the impasse before Sunday's House of Representatives session was the aim of the meeting, which was held in Singha Durbar.
Speaker Ghimire convened the chief whips and party whips from all five national parties to deliberate on the matter. Main disagreement was over the Maoist Center's insistence on having the word "violence," which CPN-UML MP Yogesh Bhattarai had used in a previous session, removed from the parliamentary record.
Hitraj Pandey, Chief Whip of the Maoist Center, said that the party's demand was tied to the historical significance of their People's War and was not just a semantic issue. While Pandey stressed that no firm decision had been made, he said he would keep his party informed about the talks.
Pandey underscored that the Maoist Center had decided to end the blockade only if Parliament could function properly, implying that the removal of the term "violence" was a condition for resuming normal parliamentary activities.
Chief Whip Pandey objected when Bhattarai used the word "violence" to characterize the Maoists' armed fight, sparking the start of the debate. Speaker Ghimire then gave the Parliament Secretariat instructions to look into the situation.
The inquiry revealed that the word "violence" had been used in the House of Representatives before, which prompted a Maoist lawmaker to adjourn the meeting on grounds of unparliamentary. The word, according to the Maoist Party, is an attempt to discredit their past struggle.
The Maoist Parliamentary Party has maintained that Parliament will not return to normal operations until Speaker Ghimire clarifies that the term "violence" is not deemed unparliamentary. They view the usage of the term as an affront to the legitimacy of their People’s War.
In defense of his choice, Speaker Ghimire cited Rules 21 and 26 of the House of Representatives' norms, which stipulate that the Speaker's decision regarding objections is final. He said that by opposing this judgment, the opposition was creating needless confusion.
The Speaker's ruling and the investigation have not resolved the standoff, with the Maoist Center’s blockade of Parliament continuing. The dispute highlights the ongoing tension between the Maoist Center and other parliamentary parties over historical and political grievances.
As the House of Representatives gets ready for its upcoming session, the Maoist Center's demands are still unfulfilled and the situation is still unsolved. It is still too early to tell how this conflict will affect legislative operations and parliamentary processes more broadly.
The opposition's position was criticized by Speaker Ghimire, emphasizing the difficulties in resolving political and historical differences within legislative bodies as well as the intricacies of parliamentary dynamics. The ongoing impediment is indicative of more serious problems with Nepal's democratic system.
